Retail book of SAIL OFS subscribed 2.4 times, shares end 4.4% higher

Following share sale, govt's stake in SAIL will decline by 10 percentage points from current 75%

The retail investor quota of the Rs 2,600-crore offer for sale (OFS) in state-owned Steel Authority India (SAIL) garnered 2.4 times subscription on Friday. 

Individual investors bid for nearly 125 million shares as against 51.6 million on offer. A day earlier, the institutional investor portion too had garnered more than two times subscription.

Shares of SAIL closed at Rs 70.2 with a gain of 4.4 per cent. The government had set the base price for the OFS at Rs 64 per share. However, most bids came at Rs 66 per share, data provided by stock exchanges showed.

Following the share sale, the government’s stake in SAIL will decline by 10 percentage points from the current level of 75 per cent. The share sale was part of the 2020-21 disinvestment programme, where the centre is targeting to mop up over Rs 2 trillion.

After the SAIL disinvestment, this year’s divestment tally has crossed Rs 15,000 crore.